Over the course of time, insurance has played a significant role in protecting the valued aspects of our lives. When insured against loss, we have found ourselves in an enclave of safety, guarded against, if not the loss itself, then at least the risk of loss. When not insured, we have left ourselves exposed to the unpredictable nature of fate.
Dating as far back as ancient times, insurance has protected us from virtually all varieties of loss. We have been protected against the loss of life, property, and the ability to perform required tasks. Our health and medical care requirements have been insured, as well as our retirement needs. Today, we find that nearly each aspect of our life is protectible through insurance.
The growth of the insurance industry in our society has been built upon the foundation of actuarial science, which relates the actuality of the risk of loss of the matter being insured to the premium to be paid. By identifying the value of the risk, actuarial science ensures that the insured gets the insurance value of what he pays for. Without this science, then insurance would be reduced to no more than a scheme of blind gambles with unrelated payoffs.
In present society, there has been a clearly developed need to provide for the long term care requirements of the elderly. With improved medical care, people are living longer. Yet, attention and care must be given to the aged who are no longer able to perform all the tasks of daily living. It is anticipated that nearly half of all people presently aged 65 and older will need care in a nursing home at some time in their lives. Long term care policies, in various forms, have been written to account for these needs.
Another general insurance interest has long been that of life insurance protection, which accommodates the financial needs of others upon the death of the insured. A virtually endless variety of life insurance policies have been written. These policies have included the joint life, last to die policy, which pays a benefit upon the second death of two insureds, usually a husband and wife.
The vehicle of the joint life policy has been used to accommodate estate planning requirements of the insureds upon the death of the second insured. By allowing for the pre-payment of death benefits, these policies are potentially used to provide for long term care requirements of elderly couples. No policy, however, has heretofore been provided which has combined specified long term care benefits with a joint and last survivor life insurance product, and particularly wherein the specified benefits are actuarially responsive to the insureds"" actual long term care requirements as well as their life expectancies.
There is a need for an insurance product which provides for dual long term care requirements, with joint life benefits upon the death of the survivor, which is actuarially responsive to the particularized long term health care expectations of dually insured parties as well as their life expectancies. A new and unique means at arriving at such a product is provided for herein.
Generally speaking, the present invention provides a new and unique system for underwriting a combined, joint life and long term care insurance policy which is actuarially responsive to the long term care expectations as well as the life expectancies of the individuals being insured. A comprehensive understanding of the full significance and scope of this invention can be drawn from the following specification and claims.